CAPNETZ - Community Acquired Pneumonia

Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) is a high morbidity and mortality disease. According to German national statistics, 240,000 CAP patients were admitted to hospital in 1998, exceeding those admitted for myocardial infarction and stroke. Since only 20 to 25% of CAP patients are hospitalized, it is estimated that up to 800,000 patients are in fact affected annually in Germany.

Despite the importance of CAP, reliable data and a recommended evidence-based therapy are lacking, and basic research must be improved. The German Federal ministry of Education and Research identified this deficiency and has been funding CAPNETZ, the Community Acquired Pneumonia competence network, since 2002.

Goals of the interdisciplinary network
The main mission of CAPNETZ is to pool medical expertise by creating a competence network in which private practitioners, microbiologists, virologists, epidemiologists, and IT specialists can collaborate. All clinical and microbiological data will be collected in a central reference-material and information database.

CAPNETZ has set itself the following long-term goals towards improving the quality of treatment for CAP patients:

• Improvement of diagnosis through the combination and joint interpretation of clini-cal and microbiological data.
  
• Improvement of therapy by evaluating therapy guidelines.
  
• Establishment of measures ensuring adherence to guidelines.
  
• Creation of databases for isolated pathogens.
  
• Identification of "new" pathogens.
  
• Creation of central databases for antibiotic resistance and for clinical data.
  
• Early identification of high-risk patients.
  
• Improvement of technical and scientific training at all levels (patients, doctors, basic researchers).

CAPNETZ: Scientific Program

High-quality clinical studies according to international standards will be one of the most important elements of CAPNETZ. An essential feature of CAPNETZ is its elec-tronic documentation system with remote data entry to allow state-of-the-art patient documentation. The resulting data will give rise to the following questions:

• How often do specific pathogens cause CAP?
  
• How resistant are pathogens to antibiotics in Germany?
  
• Is there any blood factor that can indicate the severity and course of CAP?
  
• Is the current management of CAP in Germany effective?
  
• What steps can be taken to improve the existing guidelines for diagnosis and ther-apy of CAP?
  
• How can a better acceptance of immunization be achieved?
  
• What induces bacteria not only to colonize mucous membranes but to become in-vasive?
  
• Why can the native immune system not protect against the disease?

To form valid conclusions, a large number of patients must be examined. An exten-sive network of local centers will therefore be set up throughout Germany to recruit some 5,000 patients within three years.

Transfer of medical knowledge

In addition to the definition and control of diagnostic and therapeutic standards, the transfer of medical know-how will play a central role within CAPNETZ. This will involve informing and teaching patients, doctors, and medical assistants. The knowledge transfer will be achieved via interactive training, seminars, and a Web-based learning program that will be used in the future for consultation with experts.

Press releases

Further Information: www.capnetz.de